Former long-tenured Twin helping Cubs stay alive in 2025 playoffs

The Chicago Cubs have had a roller coaster postseason thus far, narrowly defeating the San Diego Padres 2-1 in the National League Wild Card Series before winning two in a row against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field to tie the National League Division Series (NLDS) 2-2. Now, the Cubs head to Milwaukee for the deciding Game 5 of the series on Saturday.

Ex-Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar helps Cubs pick up huge postseason victories against Brewers, Padres

One of the reasons the Cubs have been able to stay alive despite adversity is the performance of former Twins lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar. While he hasn't pitched much, Thielbar has been effective in his postseason outings, helping give the Cubs a good chance to win each game. After the 38-year-old lefty pitched a scoreless ninth inning of Thursday's matchup against Milwaukee to force NLDS Game 5, Thielbar has thrown three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and two walks with four strikeouts over four outings.

Thielbar also collected two clutch outs in Game 3 of the NLDS, striking out Brice Turang and inducing a groundout of Sal Frelick in between walking William Contreras upon entering the game in the eighth inning with no outs, a runner on second and Milwaukee trailing by one run. The Cubs went on to win the game 4-3. Additionally, Thielbar recorded two huge strikeouts in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, a game the Cubs won by just two runs.

The Twins decided to let Thielbar walk in free agency after he struggled during the 2024 campaign, instead signing Danny Coulombe to be the go-to lefty out of the bullpen. The Coulombe signing worked out for Minnesota, but having the current version of Thielbar would have been beneficial for the team as well. The Cubs have received the best iteration of Thielbar this year, as the Minnesota native posted a 2.64 ERA with a 25.5% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate while being effective against both lefties and righties in 58 innings for Chicago during the regular season.

Game 5 of the NLDS between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers is scheduled to begin at 7:08 p.m. CT on Saturday at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The game will be available to stream on TBS.